R v Adams (1957)
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For the more recent case involving DNA testing, see R v Adams.
R v Adams [1957] Crim LR 365 is an English case that allows a doctor to hasten death (as a secondary intention) using analgesic medications such as heroin and morphine.
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[edit] Case Facts
The defendant, John Bodkin Adams, was a doctor who was charged with "easing the passing" of elderly patients by giving drugs calculated to hasten their deaths (one had left a bequest - including a Rolls-Royce - to him in her will).
[edit] Judgement
It was said that a doctor has no special defence, but "he is entitled to do all that is proper and necessary to relieve pain even if the measures he takes may incidentally shorten life" (i.e. as a secondary intention).
On these grounds, the defendant was acquitted.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Bailii.org, a free online database for English and Irish legal materials.
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